San Jacinto Wildlife Area – Hunter Education Course Offered, Saturday, June 4th

San Jacinto Wildlife Area will be hosting a free state mandated hunter’s education course on Saturday, June 4^th. If you want to get a hunting license this is the class you need to take to get your license.   Tom Trakes, of San Jacinto Wildlife Area, advised that the students should assemble at the wildlife area’s check station at 6:30 am with the course beginning promptly at 7 am.

This year there is a new procedure for pre-registering for the class. Before registering the student must obtain a GO ID and DOC number. To do this, go to:

https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Hunter-Education/Pre-registration

You must be at least 18 years old to access and complete pre-registration using the Online License System. Information required for pre-registration: student’s date of birth, address, phone number, physical characteristics and valid ID number (i.e., driver’s license, military ID, etc.). For juveniles without a valid ID, a parent / guardian ID is required.

Once pre-registered using the above procedure then use the newly obtained GO ID and DOC numbers to register at SJWA’s specific class at:

https://www.register-ed.com/programs/california/160

Students must read the hunter’s education manual prior to taking the class. Tom told me that the weather at San Jacinto in June is usually quite warm and suggested that everyone attending would probably want to bring a good supply of bottled water. At noon the staff at San Jacinto will host a BBQ lunch and Tom said they would be taking donations (drinks, salads, desserts, chips, etc.) for this to offset the cost of the food. The class should last until about 4:00 pm and everyone successfully completing the course can then head out to their local DFW license agent (aka: sporting goods store) and buy their hunting license. Tom asked that anyone wanting to attend this free hunter’s education course should call him to pre-register at 951-236-3040 the San Jacinto Office at (951) 928-0580.

 

San Jacinto’s 22nd Annual Junior Waterfowl Hunt Event a Big Success

First off, sorry for the lateness of this report. Although I’ve said that hunting comes first, in reality family comes first. Anyway, things are back on track now so, albeit late, here’s San Jacinto’s 2016 Junior Hunt…

Every year the staff and volunteers outdo themselves on the Junior Hunt and this year was no exception. San Jacinto Wildlife Area’s annual Junior Waterfowl Hunt event was, as usual, a big success! This is the 22^nd year for SJ’s Junior Hunt and it was well attended and well appreciated by the junior hunters. The theme for this years hunt was a Salute to our Game Wardens and Law Enforcement.

At 3 am the junior hunters and their adult partners gathered at the San Jacinto check station to receive their hunting spot assignments for the day. As has always been the tradition for the Junior Hunt, after hunting spots were assigned, a nice pancake and sausage breakfast was enjoyed by all before heading out to the blinds. The breakfast this year was generously donated by Quail Unlimited.

Getting Ready for Breakfast

After a great day of duck hunting, with the juniors averaging over 2 ½ birds each, the 59 junior hunters in attendance assembled at San Jacinto’s headquarters for a delicious lunch and, of course, the prize raffle. Lunch consisted of hot dogs, hamburgers and sandwiches (the sandwiches generously donated by Walmart) and a special treat provided by and cooked by SJ regular Palo and family, tri tip! Yum!

Tri Tip!  Yum!

Juniors (and Adults) chowing down!

All the juniors in attendance were given a custom made SJ Junior Hunt shirt and a SJ Junior Hunt hat. The hats were donated by Bruno Farms Dairy and the shirts were provided by Little Ramona and Big Ramona Duck Clubs. With the new donation rules Bob Minor at Bass Pro Shops in Rancho Cucamonga was instrumental in assisting with the donations this year. BPS held a raffle for outdoor themed art prints as well as donating all the change folks threw into their fishpond this year and, on top of that they donated about $700 in prizes. Another local Duck Club, the Mystic Lake Duck Club also donated money to Bass Pro to include in the total.   There were many prizes purchased with the donation money as well as some prizes donated by individuals. The prizes ran the gamut from gun cases, decoys, fishing rods, blind bags and other assorted hunting and outdoor gear. The big prizes of the day were a Decoy Cart donated by Swamp Thing Decoy Carts and a Shotgun. Two lucky Juniors went away very happy with those big prizes. All the junior hunters went away happy with everyone taking something home with them.

The Junior Crew!

Tom told me that Bass Pro Shops already has a display up and art print raffle started towards next year’s Junior Hunt. Its not to early to donate towards this great event so if you’re by Bass Pro anytime soon or even months down the road don’t forget to donate towards the Junior Hunt. Just ask any cashier about donating towards the SJ Junior Hunt or buying a raffle ticket. 100% of the money BPS collects for the Junior Hunt goes to the Junior Hunt.

Also, a big thanks to the volunteers, most of them San Jacinto Hunters, who set up, cooked breakfast, served or cooked lunch and cleaned up after.

To sum it up all the Juniors has a great time at the lunch, and the raffle, to top off a great day of duck hunting.

As I usually do, I’d like to add that these junior hunters are the future of our sport and it is really gratifying to see the San Jacinto Hunters, Bass Pro Shops, Little Ramona Duck Club, Big Ramona Duck Club, Mystic Lake Duck Club, Quail Unlimited, Bruno Farms, Walmart and all the other various individuals who stepped up to the plate this year to donate towards this outstanding event.